The dancefloor was as dark, crowded and sweaty as before, but with one more drink in me I found I didn't mind it so much. My head was truly buzzing now, and I let it consume me, let myself get lost in the music and the lights and the people. I had always felt awkward dancing, but it felt different tonight. I could feel my skirt swishing around my legs, my hair tickling my face, the weight of my fake breasts tugging at my chest. It felt good. It felt right. For maybe the first time since I arrived at Great Oaks – maybe the first time ever? – I felt like I belonged.

  I don't know how long I spent just dancing, letting my head empty out, but I got shocked back to reality when I felt a rge, strong hand squeeze my ass, rough fingers groping the bare skin under my skirt. I spun around but couldn't see the culprit, some horny college guy who blended in with everyone else. My face flushed and I grinned. I was still passing. Still looking like a girl, a pretty girl, a girl that guys wanted to touch. I felt another touch, softer, on my shoulder, and turned again. It was the cheerleader girl, Duni, looking as hot and wired as I felt, clearly a little drunker or higher than when I st saw her.

  “Duni!”

  “Nikki!” she beamed, “You're so hot!”

  “Thank you!”

  I still felt a little iffy about the name, but I definitely appreciated the compliment. Duni took my hand, leading me into a spin. I ughed and twirled around obligingly, then took my turn spinning her, and for a while we just danced together. I copied her movements, swaying my hips and tossing my hair around. It felt amazing. Duni was one of the few people at this party who knew my secret, but she didn’t seem put off by it at all. The more we danced together the more I felt like I really was just another girl, like we were two of the same thing. The song changed and Duni moved in close with a twinkle in her eye.

  “Did you figure out whether you're trans yet?” she asked, “I wanna kiss you, but I don't kiss guys!”

  I ughed breathlessly and shrugged my shoulders, “Probably!”

  "Probably?”

  Fuck it! The music was pulsing and I felt light-headed and hot and free. Why overthink things?

  “Yeah! I think so!”

  “Yay!” Duni squealed, and wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug, “That's so cool!”

  “Yeah!” I grinned. It was cool.

  Duni pulled back a little, with a cheeky smile, “So… may I?”

  I ughed, “Why not?”

  Duni’s smile widened, and she leant back in for a kiss.

  It was the first time I had ever kissed a girl, the first time I had ever kissed anyone if you didn't count Nick's cock. Duni’s lips were soft and warm and tasted sweet, like peaches, and I froze up, not quite sure what to do. I just stayed still, letting her take the lead. Her body was pressed up to me, warm and sweaty, and I heard a round of “Woo!”s from appreciative guys around us watching the show. That made me giggle, and Duni pulled away with a rueful shake of her head.

  “You're so hot, Nikki!” she said, “But you are not a good kisser!”

  I ughed, too busy taking in the lustful gazes of the men around me, “Sorry!”

  “That's okay!” Duni gave me another little peck on the cheek, then spied someone over my shoulder, “Casey! Wanna make out?”

  She disappeared into the crowd. To my disappointment, the guys followed her, apparently figuring two girls were better than one. That was okay. I would find more guys. Maybe even get my second ever kiss.

  I touched my lips, still warm and wet from when Duni kissed me. Did my lipstick need to be touched up? Better check. I had a spare lipstick stuffed in my bra (it wasn't like I could feel it poking into my breast forms) so I headed to the bathroom to fix myself up. A couple guys tried to grind against me on my way there, and I was fine with that too. God, frat parties were fun!

  I had found the bathroom earlier, when I was looking for Mateus, but the drinks were going to my head and I couldn't remember where it was. For a while I just wandered through the house, enjoying the silly, dizzy headspace I was in, soaking in the appreciative looks from frat boys. It seemed as least one guy was into me in every room. Maybe I was hotter now that I was less anxious, or maybe my ego was infted and I was just imagining it. I was pretty sure it was real though, and it felt amazing.

  I turned a corner and there it was, a familiar door, with three girls lined up outside it, and Karl leaning against the opposite wall, nursing a drink. My heart sank. This fucking guy. I turned, but before I could get away Karl noticed me. “Hey!”

  I could've just pretended I didn't hear him and walked off. But it wasn't in my nature to back down from a dick like Karl. I stared him down coolly, “Yes, Karl?”

  Karl straightened up, looming over me again. His expression was devoid of the smug condescension I had gotten used to from him. He had clearly been drinking too. His voice was slurred, and his devil horns sat askew in his white-blond hair.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” he said, “I fucking told you to stay away from Dom!”

  “Oh, grow up!” I snapped back, “Do you seriously think I'm trying to steal him from you? Fucking Nick? If anything, I’m grateful for you taking him off my hands for a while!”

  “Why are you here?” Karl said again, his voice rising to a frustrated whine. I couldn't help it, I smirked, which only made him more angry, “Just fuck off! Leave us alone! Don't you have shit to do?”

  “I do!” I protested, “My friend Mateus invited me here! It's not my fault Nick got invited too!”

  “Stop fucking calling him that!” Karl yelled. The girls by the bathroom door were staring at us now, but Karl didn't notice. “Enough with the fucking nicknames and, and the fucking…” he gestured at my maid outfit, and I popped out a hip obligingly, showing it off. He snarled, “The fucking inside jokes? What the fuck? What the fuck is that? You have some fucking joke where you dress like a slut? You found out he likes girls so now you're trying to fucking look like a girl for him?”

  I actually ughed out loud at that. As if! As fucking if! Yes, maybe my costume was designed to attract attention from guys, and yes, as a dumbass horny guy Nick fell into that category, but I was not wearing it for him.

  And, I thought with a swell of drunken confidence, I didn’t look like a girl. I was a girl.

  “You're fucking crazy!” I shouted.

  “Stay away from my fucking boyfriend!” Karl shouted back

  The bathroom door burst open and Nick stepped out, looking pissed.

  “Holy shit, can you stop fucking yelling?” he hissed, hunching over like it was somehow gonna hide his towering body from the gaggle of girls watching us with wide eyes. “I could fucking hear you from the bathroom.”

  “He started it!” I said.

  “Just admit you fucked him!” Karl snapped.

  My jaw dropped. Nick groaned, burying his face in his hand, “I told you, I didn't!”

  “Bullshit!” said Karl, “I see how you two fucking look at each other!”

  “I didn't!”

  “We look at each other normal!” I interjected, horrified by the suggestion. “Or with loathing! Seriously, just cause I went down on him a couple of times doesn't mean–”

  Nick flinched and Karl whipped his head around, looking at me in horrified fury, “Fucking WHAT?”

  “It doesn't…” I trailed off. Nick was gring at me now, too, like I had just said something unbelievably stupid. What the hell? Karl already knew about that, he had literally called me a cocksucker like an hour ago!

  It struck me now that sometimes people did just call each other cocksucker as a generic insult. Fuck.

  I didn't say anything else, but I didn't need to. For a second Karl’s face was apoplectic with rage, but then it softened, to frustration, then confusion, then a deep, humiliated sadness.

  “I knew it,” he muttered, “I'm so fucking stupid.”

  “Karl…” Nick reached for him, but Karl pulled away.

  “Fuck off, Dom,” he said.

  “It was before we–”

  “Fuck off! I don't fucking care!”

  “I knew Nick should've told you!” I said, “He wanted to keep it a secret, clearly, but I always thought–”

  “Oh my fucking god,” Karl interrupted, “Hey, you fucking want to dress like a maid? Here's something for you to clean up, bitch.”

  He tossed his drink at me, and I shrieked as the cold, sticky liquid shocked my face soaked into my costume.

  “What the fuck!" I squeaked, hopping away far too te, desperately trying to swipe the beer off me with my bare hands, “Do you know how fucking expensive this costume was?”

  “Make your daddy buy you a new one!” Karl yelled over his shoulder as he stormed off, “Enjoy your slut, Dom!”

  “Fuck, Karl!” Nick started after him, then turned to me, conflicted, “Are you–”

  “Leave me alone!” I yelled, “This is your fault, you stupid asshole!”

  Nick started to say something but I ignored him and ran into the bathroom with a sob, smming the door behind me. Fuck! I was meant to be here to touch up my lipstick a little, but now I looked in the mirror and the pretty girl I had felt like for a few precious moments was gone, repced by a wet, bedraggled rat, with stringy wet hair and a stupid costume covered in dirty brown liquid. I cried stupidly and did my best to try and clean myself off, but it was pointless. Fuck, I was so embarrassed. The way Karl had yelled at me, like I was some desperate creep trying to steal Nick, fucking Nick, like I was some stupid idiot perverted boy…

  There was a knock on the door and I yelled, “I told you to leave me alone, Nick!”

  “Hey, it's me!” said a voice, but it wasn't Nick’s. I sniffled and straightened up a bit. If was another guy, someone who sounded familiar.

  “Michael?”

  “Heyyy, she remembers me,” Michael said through the door. I chuckled weakly. “You want company? It’s cool, one of the brothers saw what happened, they kicked that guy out.”

  “Oh,” I rubbed my eyes, probably just smearing my mascara, “That's good. Um. You… You shouldn't come in. I look…” I gnced at the mirror and almost started crying again.

  “Hey, I'm sure you look great,” said Michael, “I'm gonna come in, okay? Unless you're naked or something, then, uh, I'm not gonna come in but I'll be real sad about it.”

  I sniffle-ughed and Michael opened the door. He smiled me, looking warm and friendly and still wearing that stupid banana costume. I giggled despite it all and he cracked a grin.

  “I told you,” he said, “Still a baddie.”

  “Shut up,” I murmured, but I could feel a smile teasing at my lips.

  “I like getting girls wet, but usually not like this,” Michael said.

  “Oh my god,” I snorted, then blushed and covered my mouth. Michael ughed.

  “You wanna come out and join the party again?” he said, “I'll keep you safe from assholes like him.”

  The thought sounded tempting. Michael was quite handsome, for a banana, with a strong jaw and some attractive stubble. I was gd he still didn't realise I was just a dumb boy in a costume. I looked in the mirror again forlornly.

  “My makeup is all fucked up,” I said miserably, “And my costume.”

  “No, your makeup’s fine,” said Michael, “Looks hot. Like, dirty and stuff. And your costume…”

  He approached me, his hands grasping for my waist. I tensed, but let him reach out, encircle his arms around me, and pull apart my apron strings. He pulled it away, followed by the headpiece from my hair. I sniffed and looked in the mirror. The bck dress was still a little wet, but you couldn't tell that well from the dark fabric. And maybe my smeared makeup did look kinda sexy, in a grungy, club girl kind of way. If I wasn’t so drunk, I might have felt a little different about it. But I was drunk, and so was everybody else, and if Michael said it was fine I was happy to believe him. I perked up a little.

  “Cmon, let's get a drink,” Michael smiled. He tossed my soiled accessories in the tub and took my hand. I lingered reluctantly.

  “I don't have a costume now…” I said.

  Michael ignored me and pulled out of the bathroom. I followed him, my heart racing a little.

  “No problem,” he said. He lead me through the corridor, and as we passed a couple making out against a wall, he reached out and plucked a cat ear headband off the girl’s head. He turned to me, gesturing for me to bow. I rolled my eyes, but leant forward so he could put it on for me .

  “There,” he said, “Sexy bck cat.”

  I tried to stare him down but couldn't hold back a blushing smile.

  “Ayy, she likes it,” he said, “Now we got a perfect couples costume.”

  I raised an eyebrow, “Cat and banana?”

  “Sexy cat and sexy banana,” said Michael. I giggled and he winked, “C'mon, let's go find something fun to do.”